


Second Best

by MoveTowardFocus



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, I'm Mad, Keith's feelings about Lance, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, M/M, Pining, Still, Unrequited Love, What the fuck was season 8, klance, klance angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-03-30 22:01:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19036432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoveTowardFocus/pseuds/MoveTowardFocus
Summary: Keith tried not to feel so hurt, but failed spectacularly.He had always known that Lance liked Allura. Lance hadn't exactly kept it a secret.





	Second Best

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place directly after the sunset scene from season 8. As someone who's never been anyone's first choice, here's my take on that scene.

Keith watched Lance walk away.

He didn't move from his spot, the metal surface of his lion cooling as the sun set. He sat with his legs up, arms resting on his knees. The sun was almost all the way below the horizon, but he figured he had a few moments left to sit in the light and feel sorry for himself.

Keith tried not to feel so hurt, but failed spectacularly.

He had always known that Lance liked Allura. Lance hadn't exactly kept it a secret. It was just that Keith had always hoped that Lance was doing it just because he was a flirt and that he did actually have feelings for Keith. He could see now that he was mistaken. All those moments that Keith had interpreted as genuine feeling were nothing more than fleeting concern in Lance's eyes. All this time, joking about the 'Bonding Moment' and Lance never actually felt a thing. Keith could feel pressure behind his eyes and he struggled not to cry. He certainly remembered the bonding moment. How he had picked Lance's frail body up and held it to his chest, realizing that he had less than platonic feelings for the blue eyed boy. The memories were all coming back to mock him now, as if playing them back with this hellish new filter would help him any. He remembered how he had told Lance to "Leave the math to Pidge' and that he was a valuable member of the team. It seemed Lance never picked up on all the things Keith was trying to tell him that day.  _You are valuable to me._

Keith supposed he always saw this coming. It had always been at the back of his mind. He knew this to be true because he had never had any intention of confessing his feelings to Lance. Keith had always known it was true that Lance would always choose Allura over him. It was fact, like the way the Earth went around the sun and that squares had four sides. It was too ridiculous a notion to entertain. Confess to Lance? Yeah right. He would be forced to endure the panic and pain as Lance struggled to explain to Keith as politely as possible that he didn't like Keith that way and that he really had feelings for Allura. Keith would then be forced to go the rest of his life having Lance know the true weight of his gaze, even as it wasn't returned.

Or even worse, he maybe did have feelings for Keith and would act on them, only to break it off the moment Allura showed any real interest. Keith knew that the very best case scenario would be that he was just a place holder, a trial run for the real thing. Second best.

And it hurt even worse because he had nothing against Allura. Of course Lance liked Allura and not him. Allura was beautiful and interesting, and had a way of getting along with all forms of life. She was nothing like Keith, who felt panic at the notion of holding hands because he didn't want anything prohibiting from being able to use them. She was nothing like Keith, who was too serious and had a face that begged people to leave him alone. Keith wasn't interesting at all. He couldn't hold a conversation to save his life. One of the things he'd always loved about Lance was how he managed to include Keith without him ever having to say a word. What was there to love about Keith? Certainly not his tendency for anger and less than ideal social skills.

And this was love, wasn't it? He had never been in love. Wouldn't know if it kicked him in the face. All he knew was that when he saw Lance in the Red Lion, flying side by side as his right hand man, he felt like he could do anything. But even still, Allura flew the same Lion as Lance had. Even in this, they were more compatible.

The tears were finally falling and he did nothing to stop them. He felt stupid, honestly. Keith was a loner, he had always been told so, and now that he finally found someone that made him think there was someone out there who might want him, it turned out he was dead wrong. It hurt to picture Allura and Lance together. They were a beautiful couple who had a lot in common. They looked like people who belonged together. Not like Keith, who knew he would always look out of place next to Lance. Well, he didn't really believe that.

He thought given the chance, a real chance, he could make Lance happy. He wasn't the kind of person who could often say "I love you" or cuddle or dole out affection, but he would have always always been there for Lance. He would have been someone Lance could be proud to call his. They had each other's backs and Keith would always carry him out of danger, matters of war or of the heart. He still would do that for Lance. He would be there when Lance needed him. It would just hurt like hell because he would live the rest of his life knowing Lance had picked Allura.

Keith sat alone on top of his Lion, staring into the last rays of sunlight. He tilted his head back to look up at the sky, where the first hint of the stars were starting to appear. He took a deep breath and sent his thoughts out to the universe so at least someone was listening.

_If I had the capability to show something like affection would it have turned out differently?_

_She can never understand him like I can._

_He doesn't love me._

_If I had just said something, said anything, would I have just been second best? It would have been easy, with enough alcohol involved._

Keith already knew the answer. 

He would always just be second best.


End file.
